WWE History Vol. 20: 10 Moments from 2019 we can't forget
As the year 2019 draws to a close, wrestling fans and pundits alike can look back upon this year as one of the most tumultuous, exciting, and unpredictable times in all of sports-entertainment history.
2019 saw the formation of the first serious competition (sorry Impact and ROH) to WWE in the form of All Elite Wrestling. While WWE remains the globally dominant brand, the sudden appearance of a new challenger on the scene caused them to shake up the way they do business, and for the most part, the fans have approved.
This year saw the slow evolution of pro wrestling away from muscular titans toward smaller, quicker, and more athletic performers. It also saw the Women of WWE stepping up into the limelight, and killing it with stellar performances, including the first-ever all-female main event in WrestleMania history.
With so much amazing action and storylines, it can be hard to whittle the list down to a chosen few. But that's just what we have done. Here are ten moments from 2019 than WWE fans just can't forget.
Disclaimer: The views of the author do not necessarily represent that of Sportskeeda
#10 The WrestleMania main event glass ceiling is shattered
Women's wrestling has often been treated as an afterthought in sports entertainment, and at one time the WWE was one of the worst offenders.
During the Attitude Era, and even into the Ruthless Aggression era, women's wrestling often consisted of such cringe-worthy spectacles as swimsuit matches.
But thanks to the Women's Evolution, this is no longer the case. Women's pro wrestling was no longer treated as a side-show attraction by the WWE, but a legitimate division with high stakes and compelling characters. But one milestone remained frustratingly out of reach; no woman had ever been in the main event of a WrestleMania before.
This finally happened at WrestleMania 35, when Ronda Rousey defended the RAW Women's Championship against Becky Lynch and Charlotte. While fans argue over whether it was a main event caliber match, there's no arguing that it contained main event caliber talent.
The glass ceiling preventing women from joining the upper echelons of sports entertainment stardom was shattered, once and for all, much to the delight of the fans. WWE chose to start the year 2019 off the right way with this angle and the resulting WrestleMania main event.
By having arguably their biggest rising star, Becky Lynch, be involved in the main event picture of WrestleMania 35, WWE hedged their bets to ensure that the match would be highly anticipated by fans from all eras.
The build-up to the match involved a heated Twitter war between Lynch and Rousey, where Rousey dropped Lynch's real name to make the angle look more like a shoot than scripted drama.
The ploy worked and the WrestleMania 35 Main Event turned out to be a crowd-pleaser, proving that 'go woke, go broke' is just a silly mantra for terrified people stuck in the last century.